Do what I say, not what I do
by GygyFr
Summary: Taking over the cliffhanger of season 5 finale and based on the two promos for season 6 premiere (and some theories); what should happen with this warehouse fire? Written with the help of Gaellicious, 1chicagoswe and Maëlys


Hellooooooo everybody! Did you miss me?

I know that I didn't publish any chapter from my stories, but since the end of the fifth season of Chicago Fire, something was bothering me, and I didn't know how Derek would explain this whole warehouse fire and the likely injuries of each firefighter still inside. SO I patiently waited for the press release and the teasers to do something. We talked about theories for the premiere for a month now on Twitter on a special discussion created by Gaellicisous (shoutout to all of the participants by the way) and it was obvious to us that they won't get Casey killed; it would be the end of Chicago Fire don't you think? We thought about Mouch getting killed, but with the pictures from the set of the show, plus the different press release, it becomes more plausible that it is Kannell who doesn't survive this Hell; nobody saw him (or people didn't post any pictures, what a band of ungrateful people!) on set.

I dragged three friends into it: Gaellicious (she commented and advised us), 1chicagoswe (she supported us, commented, advised us and checked for any mistakes she could see) and Maëlys (she wrote a few passages of this story _it was the first experience for her_). It was hard because we had to remain reliable over what had already been seen in the season 5 finale and what we had seen in the teasers for the season 6 premiere.

SO, here it is, a new OS based on the press released, the teasers and some theories we had on our theories wall. I truly hope you will like it and leave us some reviews because we're on it since the beginning of September to give this to you before the premiere. We all four and have little time to write something down, which greatly complicates the situation, but we did our best to please you. This story is supposed to stick as best possible to what SHOULD happen in the first five minutes of the first episode of this sixth season. We start the story when Matt was about to say his "last words" to Gabby.

ENJOY and don't forget to leave a review!

* * *

 **Do what I say, not what I do**

Everyone outside was worried, especially Gabby. Chief Boden had said that the fire was in the structure, which only meant that the firefighters inside just had a few minutes left. Wishing to have a status from the inside, he knew that Herrmann and Mouch were trapped together and the latter was now unconscious, he knew that Kidd and Otis found another worker but were trapped as well, he knew that Kannell and Severide were trapped together and were trying to find a way out of there. But he had no information from one of his lieutenants. So, he grabbed his radio and turned it on to talk to Casey.

"Casey, tell me you found an exit."

His left hand still on his radio, Matt stared everywhere his gaze allowed him to. But the only things he could see were flames and desolation. Focusing on one side of the walls around him, he noticed the paint slowly bombing and flaking. He was a firefighter for more than ten years, he knew what all this meant; he was trapped, the place was deteriorating fast. Too fast.

"Uh… Negative, chief."

Another explosion settled and broke the ceiling into pieces. Just like his chief earlier, he realized with this collapse that the fire was now in the structure and that he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"It's not good in here! Heating up pretty fast!"

He could feel the sweat profusely dropping from his forehead to his neck, he could now feel the heat devouring his gear and touch his skin. It was not a burn, just heat here and there. For now. Casey decided to raise his head in order to see if the ceiling above him would stand up for a few more seconds. But the flames were everywhere, burning everything. He knew everything was going to end soon.

"Last in a minute! Meanwhile… Chief, is Gabby there? Can you put her on?"

Hearing the distress in her husband's voice, Gabby urgently grabbed her radio and took a few steps closer to the fire, as to move closer to her beloved.

"Yeah! Yeah baby, I'm here. I'm here."

She was about to cry, but she held them back to have a clear voice.

"Come out of there!"

Knowing that time was running out, Casey decided to push his mask away from his face. He had to talk to Gabby, and she had to clearly hear his voice to understand what he wanted to say. He knew it was his last words and he wanted to give them to her. He also knew that he had to take the least breath possible not to inhale smoke. For the first time, his face directly touched the heat; it was unbearable. He had to cough because to the thickness of the fog encircling him. He took his radio back in hand and didn't take into account what his wife had just said to him.

"Gabby? You know how much you mean to me, right?"

Gabby felt a slight change in his voice. He came clearer than before to her ears. And soon, she understood; he had taken his mask off.

"Matt, did you take your mask off?" she couldn't help but to say, knowing the answer anyway.

Everyone outside understood that as well and they all knew what was happening: Casey was about to say his last words because he thought of not coming back from this fire alive. And these last words would be for his wife, the love of his life. Inside, the stairs made of wood gave way close to Casey because of an umpteenth explosion, and he realized that there wasn't much time left. He had to say what he had on his heart and fast.

"I wanted you to hear my voice."

"No, don't you say that Matt!"

She couldn't help but scream on the radio at her husband. He knew what he meant, and that was what she feared the most since they started dating. She couldn't lose him, not now, not after everything.

"You get out of there! You listen to me, you put your mask back on and you get out of there now!"

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me", Matt said with a low voice.

"Matt, don't!"

She couldn't hear this, she didn't have the strength.

"Use you halligan or your hand, you find a wall and you break it down, you hear me!"

She had to scream now because she couldn't believe what was happening.

"Gabby!"

"Don't say it!"

She couldn't hold her tears any longer. Travelling down her cheeks and falling on her sweat and the ground; she was crying in despair, understanding that her husband was doing his goodbye speech to her, but she didn't want to hear this. She wanted him to fight, she wanted him to get out of this Hell and find her back.

"Gabby… Gabby… I want you to remember us happy, together. Holding each other."

Hearing these words, Boden decided to face his men while they all had their head down, as a defeat but also to give the couple some privacy. They had their radios on, they knew what was happening and what it meant, listening each word of this last speech from their lieutenant. Gabby closed her eyes; she knew that her husband had been through the loss of his former fiancée five years ago, and now, she had to face this too. She had to lose the love of her life, her behalf. The explosions continued to shake the building even more, the ceiling and the floor giving way because of the heat, the flames and each blast stronger than the previous one. His skin was burning slowly, but he kept his composure while the smoke entered his mouth and airways, his lungs filled with burning air. He couldn't help but smile thinking back to all these years he had spent with Gabby, all these moments of happiness he had with her and gave to her. He thought back to what he had missed, what he had failed, what he had done, what he had experienced. The best moments he had were with his family. Not his blood family, but his firefighter family. His home; the firehouse. But above all, what made him through all these years was her, that was Gabby. When he was with her, he smiled, he felt full, happy. He went through the death of Hallie because she was there for her and she asked her to fight this. She had maintained him alive until now. She was his life.

"You're my miracle, Gabby! You're my miracle!"

Dawson finally bent down her head, realizing that it was his last words to her. Their spirits were well connected to know that he wouldn't have done that if he had the least chance to get out alive of that fire. Her cries intensified, hearing his breath through the radios as he coughed one last time.

"I love you."

These three words were the last straw, and Gabby collapsed into tears. Matt never expressed his feelings, even by love, she knew it. These last three words meant everything; how much he cared for her, how much he loved her. These last here words were telling her that his last thoughts would be for her as he was about to die in that warehouse. She kept watching the entrance of the building, filled with smoke and flames. Nobody could make it out alive now. She was sure about this.

At the end of Casey's final speech to Gabby, Boden knew what he had to do. The fire was intense and rough, his men had barely a chance to make it out alive, so he had to give them the least chance. He had to get Casey back to Dawson, he had to get Herrmann back to Cindy, to get Mouch to Trudy. He had to save all his men. As he grabbed his radio, he turned to the fire spreading fast everywhere he could focus on.

"Battalion 25 to main, send at least a dozen more ambulances on my location, emergency", he asked the dispatch woman as he counted all the firefighter, the civilians still inside and the ones who got out of the Hell before the big blaze.

As he remembered that every radio of his crew was connected to each other, he tried to warn them about what was coming out.

"51, take cover any way that you can", he said on his radio. "We're about to open the water cannons."

Hearing this, Cruz stepped forward to meet Boden, passing over Dawson.

"Chief! You'll boil them alive!" he rebelled.

Every firefighter knew this: opening the water can stop a fire meant that every person still alive in that fire had more chance to get out of here in a body bag. Boden turned to Cruz, reading the worried expression on his face, even if the latter knew that it was the only option left. He still had this fire scene from a year ago in mind, where they could have lost lieutenant Severide and Dawson, when the battalion chief in charge had ordered to cut the water off, leaving the two friends burning alive if their chief hadn't come in to save them from an atrocious death.

"It may not be much, but it's all we got", Boden justified, staring at Gabby.

She knew inwardly that her chief would do everything that he could to keep his men alive and get out of here in one piece. A few tears were still streaming down her face, but her hope had been restored when she saw everyone going on their position to fight that gigantic fire. A new explosion settled, scaring everyone again.

"That's it!" Boden screamed on his radio. "Open up the water cannons!"

The engine guys didn't wait and used their fire hoses, hoping to reduce this blaze ravaging everything inside and allow everyone to find an exit. One hose was directed to the entrance of the warehouse, the big hose on Engine 51 putting pressure on the first floor. Gabby was watching all this with a worried look; she had been a firefighter, she had experienced this before with Kelly. She knew that spreading water on a fire would lead to an invisible back draft burning everyone on its path, she knew that this condensation ball could be fatal, especially on those who didn't have any protection. But the firefighters still inside had their gear to protect them, only the civilians were vulnerable, and Matt who had taken his mask off. Maybe he heard what Boden had just said and he finally decided to fight and put his mask back on? Inside the warehouse, everyone had tried to shelter from this upcoming force, even if it would be tricky. But Herrmann couldn't really find an improvised bunker because of Mouch. He so decided to pull him on the small office close to where they were and to bend over his friend's face in order to protect him from the heat blast. Severide, Kannell, Otis and Kidd did the same. As for Casey, when he heard that Boden was about to do everything in his power to save them, his face reddened by the heat and the flames caught a glimpse of fear. He wanted to live, for Gabby. And he knew that it was his only chance to get out alive. Destroy the fire by water would surely open a way out of this Hell. He grabbed his mask, checking his SCBA to see how much time he had with oxygen, but he had no longer air in his bottle.

"Damn it!"

He watched around, crawling towards the victim he had to bring to Brett and his wife to see if the man was still alive, but it wasn't the case, not anymore. He passed away when he was talking to Gabby through the radio. He tried to find somewhere to go to protect himself, but he found nothing but flames, wood and ash flying all over the place, entering his nose and mouth as he tried to take a breath. His only way to maybe get out of here was to lie down on his stomach and cover his face as best he could while on the radio, he heard chide Boden ordering to open up the water can. The ground was hot, very hot, but what mattered was to get out of here alive. Even if he couldn't hear anything but the flames, just the feeling of the heat drastically coming up could only say one thing; they had opened up the water can. He could feel the sweat profusely streaming down his entire face reddened by the heat and the flames. The air became hotter and hotter, and even if he tried to hold back his breath, he had to inhale at least a small amount of oxygen to remain conscious. But the evaporation of the flames only produced carbon dioxide, and the breathing air became scarce. He coughed, his throat and lungs burning like never before. He had suffered injuries, a few smoke inhalation as well, but this... Even if his chief gave him a slight opportunity to get out of here _and he was trying to catch it_, it was almost an impossible mission; he couldn't breathe properly, attached to this world of pain and unbearable heat. He wanted to scream, to cry, but he wanted to keep the least energy he still had. He could feel his gear slowly burn, his skin coming into contact with the ambient air as his clothes became thinner. He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut as everything was hurting him. The others were also in trouble; Herrmann above Mouch was suffering like Hell to protect his friend and himself. Otis and Kidd were protecting each other while taking care of their victim as best they could. Kannell and Severide had decided just like Matt to lie down on their stomach in the middle of the room in order to avoid any additional collapse of walls and find themselves buried alive. They couldn't handle this. They all screamed, waiting for Hell to slow down, but it lasted more than a few minutes. One of them didn't succeed to handle the heat; Casey. The fact that his mask was no longer working had made him breathe so much warm air and little oxygen that he lost consciousness. The radio finally crackled and all could hear the voice of their chief, Boden.

"51! If you can hear me, get out of here now!" the latter screamed on his radio.

Outside, everyone was worried that their friends got hurt or worse. Maybe they all died because of this heat? Maybe they were unconscious? But a giant relief seized the group of firefighters, even if Dawson was still deeply worried about Casey, her husband.

"Chief! This is Otis! Kidd and I are coming with a victim! We don't know if he's still alive!"

"Chief, this is Herrmann! I found a way out of here! I am coming with Mouch, he needs immediate medical assistance!"

"An ambulance is here to take care of him! Get out now!"

"This is Severide! We found an exit, but we don't go out of here without Casey!"

Boden could understand the urge of Severide and Kannell to save their friend, but the structure was surely unstable now that they stopped the fire, even if there were some danger of another fire settling from the ashes. But...

"Severide, get out of here! It's an order!"

"Chief..."

"Don't let me repeat that!" Boden interrupted.

"Copy that", Severide accepted after a long minute.

One by one, they finally got out, their gear smoking from everywhere because of the Hell they had just gone through inside. The only one who didn't respond was Casey, which worried Gabby even more. What was happening? Was he dead? Was he unconscious? Was he conscious but didn't have the strength to use his radio? Was he pinned down by something and he couldn't move? So many questions and nobody in the warehouse to know that. Turn by turn, the firefighters got out by the entrance of the warehouse, some of them with their victims. the first to get out were Otis and Kidd, carrying in their arms one of the workers. The fact that he didn't have any appropriate protection to face this Hell caused him to get burned very badly despite the intervention of the two firefighters. two paramedics came to help them to place the lifeless body of the man they tried to save. They also had been willing to be taken care of by other paramedics, summoned to follow them into an ambulance to check that everything was fine for them. They removed their mask, breathing for the first time in a long time an icy air graciously accepted by their lungs. Boden eye-tracked them for several seconds before focusing again on the exit of the building, waiting for the rest of his troops. From the rear of the factory, Kannell and Severide also came out, hurriedly taking off their mask to inhale an air that they had forever missed according to their perception of time. Both had the same desire; go back to the building to go and save their friend. They had struggled to get along at the very beginning, each of them having known Matt at different points in his life that had been important to him without ever meeting each other. Two paramedics were waiting for them and joined them but they refused their help, wishing to reach their coworkers on the other side of the building blackened by the flames.

"Let go of me!" Kelly shouted in an angry tone to the paramedic in charge who was trying to get them to the ambulance he was leading.

Every firefighter and paramedic knew the deep friendship that bonded the two lieutenants, everyone knew that if one of them was injured or in a dangerous situation, the other would immediately be on alert and nothing or nobody could reason him. The anger he evacuated on the paramedic was not intended for them; it was for Chief Boden. He didn't understand his decision not to rescue Casey, who had still not responded to the radio call that their chief had launched several minutes ago. Gonzales _the name of the paramedic in charge_ did not go further as Kelly and Kannell stared at him. He knew that he and his colleague couldn't do anything while they were in this state of intense anxiety. They followed them from behind as Herrmann had made a very big effort to get Mouch out of there, dragging him to the ground, feeling unable to carry him on his shoulders.

"Gabby!" Sylvie screamed, trying to take Dawson with her and make her think of something else for at least a few minutes.

She knew she had to do her job, but her growing anxiety for her husband prevented her from thinking properly. Despite this, she stepped forward to Herrmann with trembling legs as she shook her head to concentrate on Mouch.

"I don't know if he's breathing", Christopher explained, pulling out his mask, shivering as the cold air came in contact with his burning skin. "I did a CPR but I couldn't find a pulse", he continued with a sigh.

Herrmann and Mouch had known each other for so long that their friendship was far beyond the relationship between Casey and Severide. It was like a very amicable friendly relationship, and if one of them was not feeling well, the other felt it too. Except that this time, it didn't work because Herrmann hadn't seen anything coming. With the help of Dawson and Herrmann, Brett removed all the equipment that Mouch was wearing and then placed two of her fingers on his carotid, concentrating in order to feel or not his beating heart.

"His pulse is really weak", she sighed as they were joined by two other paramedics, including Chout.

"We'll take care of Mouch", he said, kneeling to take over from Gabby. "Concentrate on Lieutenant Casey."

He knew that Gabby was going to refuse any patient except her husband. Even though he still had feelings for her, he accepted and understood her relationship with Matt because she was happy. At least she was so far. It hurt her to see his colleague in such a state of distress. Could this be an unconditional love?

"I'm coming with you", Herrmann said, and the others didn't say anything.

After all, he also had to be checked after the long agony they had all suffered. And as Herrmann walked away with Chout, his partner, and Mouch on the stretcher, Severide and Kannell arrived near the others. Upon arriving, Kelly couldn't help but rush to his chief and take him by the collar of his shirt, adrenaline and anger taking over the hierarchy to be respected.

"How could you ask us to go out when we could get to Casey and get him out of there!" he exclaimed, out of his mind.

Boden understood the anger that animated his lieutenant, much more than the latter could believe, but he didn't need this now. Who understood his anxiety not to see his lieutenant come out? Who could understand this knot he had in his chest when he had no news from one of the best firefighters in Chicago for several minutes? Was it because his radio was not working? Was it because he was unconscious? Or worse? Doing everything so that his distress couldn't be seen, he turned to Otis and Stella who weren't far from him with the paramedics.

"Did you hear Lieutenant Casey's PASS-alarm?"

"Sorry chief, but we didn't hear anything."

Maybe the two firefighters were too far from their lieutenant? Or maybe it meant that Casey was alive and conscious?

"You're going to do something or I have to disobey your orders to go get him!" Severide said with a glare.

He knew that by defying Boden's orders he would later have a speech with him and probably take a black mark in his file, but he didn't care. What counted most at the time was to bring out his best friend and brother in heart alive from this rat trap. He knew that leaving Severide on the sidelines as he prepared to go into the building ready to collapse would only grow the hatred of his other lieutenant, which he didn't want for anything in the world. Working with these two for long enough, he understood that they were stubborn and that they were ready for all sacrifices to save each other if one of them found himself in distress. And if Kannell was added to these two balls of energy, that gave a trio even more explosive than with Andy Darden. He had no choice; he turned to his two men and kept his anger from the provocation of the lieutenant.

"Severide, Kannell, change your bottles. We go in", he explained calmly before turning to Gabby and Brett. "Be ready for Casey."

Gabby couldn't help swallowing hard on hearing these last words as the two firefighters quickly changed their SCBA to go back inside the building, still toxic despite the extinction of the flames.

"Kelly," Gabby interrupted Kelly by taking his left arm as he was about to join chief Boden. "Bring me back my husband alive."

Her voice trembled a little more at each word she articulated, her eyes becoming wet again. A brief silence settled, Kelly finally nodding.

"That's my intention", he said.

All the firemen straightened up, all ready to take the risk of following their chief to rescue one of their own. After all, the firefighters never left anyone behind. It was against their principles and their duties. But with one look from Boden, who suspected their intentions, they put their knees back to the ground.

"Severide, Kannell, go on channel three", he ordered so that the others wouldn't be able to hear them.

Once they entered, they followed the traces of soot on the ground; no doubt the marks left by Herrmann when he dragged Mouch on the ground to get out of here. They knew that Casey would normally be close to them when they opened the fire hoses. When they arrived in a large room where the traces on the ground had taken them, Boden ordered Severide and Kannell to go to the left, leaving him on the right. Separating was the best thing to do to cover the area and find Matt as quickly as possible, especially when the building was showing signs of future collapses. All at ground level, swinging their hands from right to left like a radar, Boden became more worried when the alarm attached to Casey's jacket was not heard. Because if Case had been conscious but blocked and without radio, it would at least activate his PASS-device. And if he was unconscious, it had to set up anyway. Why didn't it work? Had he moved to find a way out without succeeding? Had the alarm broken? Visibility was becoming increasingly easy, even though the battalion chief could observe several residual fires around him. Suddenly, Boden noticed a darker spot at the ground level, a few meters ahead of him. Cautiously, he stepped forward, putting one foot forward to feel the ground and prevent the floor from collapsing more than he could see around him because of the weight he could put on. He came closer, guessing finally the yellow stripes that the firefighters had on their gear in order to be visible in the smoke and in confined places with zero visibility. He guessed without any problem that it was Casey.

"Casey!" he screamed, catching his radio to warn his two colleagues. "Severide, Kannell, I found Casey."

He continued his delicate approach, the floor cracking dangerously as he advanced toward his visibly unconscious lieutenant. He then noticed that Matt was not wearing his SCBA, indicating that he had breathed all that contaminated air. If he was unconscious, it simply meant that he was at least suffering from fire poisoning.

"Casey", Boden could hear through his mask.

He turned, finding Severide and Kannell rushing over him.

"Stop!" Boden ordered, the two men stopping sharply. "The floor will not support more weight", he explained.

Waiting for the confirmation that the two firefighters weren't going to overstep his orders, he continued, arriving at Casey's side.

"Casey."

He put his hands on his jacket, turning Matt's unconscious body. His eyes were closed, his face both livid and red. Without hesitation, he took a last big inspiration and removed his mask to briefly pass it on Casey's face. She turned the small handle under the mask to bring a flow of pure and continuous oxygen instead of tracing on the breathing of the person wearing it; he was afraid that Matt would be in respiratory distress. He let the flow come into his respiratory system for about ten seconds before removing the mask and putting it back on his face, allowing him to take Matt out of that damn place. Not being able to drag him along as Herrmann had done with Mouch because of the floor ready to give way, he decided to place him on his shoulders.

"Severide, Kannell, create a passage for me and Casey."

"Copy that."

He turned the buttons of his radio to go back to the discussion channel of all the firefighters, then turned it on again.

"Brett, Dawson, get ready, we'll take Casey out."

No need to say more, all had realized that he was unconscious, otherwise, he would have used his chief's radio to at least tell his wife that he was alive. When they heard these last words from their chief, all the firemen, and especially Gabby, straightened up as one man. Their heart beat faster, their breath coming out in gasps, the anxiety earning each of them. Dawson's entire body was shaking despite Brett's more than visible and obvious support to keep her upright. She prayed. She couldn't be heard, but she prayed with all her heart for God to spare her so that she could live a happy life with her husband, possibly with their future children. And the more seconds passed, the harder it was for her to stand still. Her hand still on the radio, she couldn't stop moving, jumping very lightly on her feet, worried and impatient. After several minutes, all could see two firefighters coming out by the entrance, following by a third one carrying a heavy charge on his back; no doubt it was Casey. All had the same reflex; advance toward these heroes who had given up everything to find one of theirs while the building in front of him began to collapse, the structure having been badly damaged by the fire. Gabby also rushed to Boden while he was supported by the other firefighters around him. He couldn't get on his knees and carry her husband's limp body on his shoulders.

"Come on baby, come on!" she stammered weakly as Boden, Severide, Kannell and Brett did everything that they could to place Matt's unresponsive body on the stretcher as quickly as possible. Soon, they raced to the ambulance 61 waiting for them under the worried eyes of the entire firehouse to provide the first aid. Seeing Matt like this was very hurtful for everyone, but the most shaken up by him was Gabby. The tears she had hidden for so long were now streaming down her beautiful face, even if she tried to wipe them to properly take care of her husband. As Brett was inserting an IV after having torn apart his gear and shirt, she checked for his pupil reaction with a penlight.

"Pupils are equal and reactive. He's burning up", she stated the obvious.

After that, she gently placed three electrodes on her husband's bare chest to measure his heart rate, turned on the EKG and adjusted an oximeter on one of his fingers.

"Pulse is weak at 59. Sats at 92%."

"His breathing is shallow. He's struggling", Brett announced after her coworker and friend.

His heart was weak and his breathing was now erratic. Gabby decided to put an oxygen mask on his face in order to help him breathe better, at least the time to get treated by the physicians in the ER. After passing the elastic behind his head to keep it in place, she enveloped one of his arms with a BP-cuff to have a look at his blood pressure; a weak pulse meant for most of the case a very low one.

"BP at 89 over 64. We need to go to the hospital. Now!" Gabby ordered, Brett doing her best to help Gabby place the gurney into the rig, Gabby climbing in the back of the ambulance to take care of her husband.

Going behind the wheel, Sylvie did her best to drive as fast as she was allowed to. Time was running out because Matt was still unresponsive, and they couldn't figure out why. For the remaining five minutes, Gabby's heart almost stopped beating, scared of losing the one she loved. Matt's face, usually svelte and pale, was now so red that tomatoes could become jealous, his skin always cold and refreshing her was burning like Hell; even more than her. She felt the least movement from her partner and best friend behind the wheel, the least acceleration, the least break as she was the in alert mode. She was checking everything: she was observing the cardiac monitor attached to the chest of her husband to see if his heart was still beating or if he was still breathing and a second later, she was checking his chest if he was indeed breathing. And another second later, she was checking if the bag of fluids coming throughout his veins were still perfectly logged in the crook of his elbows to keep him hydrated the time to arrive in the ER. She couldn't help but think back to what Matt had told her through the radio while he thought of dying. She couldn't help but to think back to all of this and cry out loud. She heard the tires squeal, announcing that the ambulance had arrived at its destination. A door slammed, and a few seconds later another one, the one from the back of the ambulance, opened. Brett took the legs of the stretcher to get it out of the rig while Gabby pulled out the oximeter, the BP-cuff, and the cardiac monitor. They then rolled the stretcher, passing the first sliding doors to really enter the ER.

« Incoming! » Maggie screamed to warn some doctors around her while she saw Brett and Dawson.

Soon, Dr. Halstead and Dr. Choi ran toward the entrance of the ER to welcome the two paramedics with Matt on the stretcher. They knew it was him as soon as they saw Gabby's face swollen by her cries. They approached, asking the unasked question; what had happened.

"Thirty-seven-year-old firefighter, trapped in a burning warehouse and left for dead. We had to open up the water can while he was still inside", started Brett with her trembling voice. "Others are on route", she added.

Everyone was in shock. The physicians were not firefighters, but they knew what all this meant; they at least had smoke inhalation and burns.

"Smoke inhalation, first and second-degree burns on about 20% of his body. Pupils are equal and reactive."

After that resume from Sylvie, Dawson took over her to explain everything that happened in the ambulance.

"Pulse weak and thready at 57, BP at 87 over 63, O2 sat at 95% with the non-rebreather mask, difficult and erratic breathing. 15 gage in the left arm."

"Did he regain consciousness?" Dr. Halstead asked Gabby to access the level of possible brain damage Matt could have.

"No. He remained without proper oxygenation for ten minutes at the bare minimum", Gabby tried to explain, her eyes starting to get wet again.

"And the maximum?"

"I would say twenty to thirty minutes", Brett said.

"Ok, let's go to trauma 3."

They all arrived at the door of the room, rolling the stretcher over the small entrance to come inside. They carefully placed the ambulant bed near the one from the hospital while two nurses came to help the doctors and the two paramedics. Four of them grabbed a corner of the sheets covering the backboard and followed the instructions of Dr. Halstead.

"On my count. One, two, three", he said firmly.

The three others did what he said and placed Matt on the hospital bed, attaching the sensors of the cardiac monitor on the one from the room. A nurse read what she saw on the screen.

"Weak pulse at 52, BP at 85 over 64, oxygenation at 94%".

"You didn't intubate", Ethan stated the obvious.

"He was breathing well enough not to intubate", Gabby tried to justify, her voice still trembling.

As Dr. Halstead checked his breathing with his stethoscope, a nurse and Dr. Choi gently asked the two paramedics to get out of the room to treat Matt, even if they knew that it would be really hard for Gabby to do so. But she did anyway, aware that it would be a patience game now; she stepped back, held by Sylvie by her shoulders. The nurse closed the door and the blinds, giving to all the medical staff to treat their patient the best way possible. The cardiac monitor was beeping very slowly, alarming the two physicians.

"Give me a half-dose of epi. We need to cut his entire gear to see the extent of the burns. We need ABG, BMP, CBC, chest x-way and a CT-scan. Get me his glucose ASAP", retorted Will while he was checking Matt's pupils.

They were reactive, but the doctors still didn't know why he was unconscious from the beginning of the entire procedural. They needed to know what was happening inside his brain because the lack of oxygen he might have suffered could have done some irreversible damage. One of the two nurses checked Matt's blood sugar while the others gave the asked half-dose of epinephrine to the doctor.

"glucose at 0.56".

"Give him a bolus", the physician asked as the level of sugar was too low.

Maybe the infernal fire attacked all his reserve of sugar while the other firefighters opened up the water can? Maybe that was why he had lost consciousness and hadn't regained it after the fire? But something was off: with a hypoglycemia, the body should have reacted by sending a wave of epinephrine into the bloodstream by itself, increasing the heart rate and the blood pressure, which was not the case, quite the contrary; Matt's vitals were incredibly low. A piece of the puzzle was missing.

"What could have caused his heart rate and blood pressure to be so low while they should have been too high?" Dr. Halstead glimpsed into Dr. Choi's right ear.

"If the fire was intense enough, he could be suffering from dehydration".

"He needs more fluids and nutrients", Will said, nodding to his colleague.

"I need another line!"

One nurse hurried to grab another fifteen gage to plunge it to Matt's other arm and settle another IV line of fluids, but she had to wait for the other nurse to take the needed samples to get them to the lab quickly. Once done, she changed the bags of fluids on his left IV and turned on the device for the second bag. Soon, their patient's head turned slightly and a slight frown could be read on his face.

"Sir?" Will started, gently rubbing his sternum to make him open his eyes.

"BP is rising slowly, heart rate is coming up", the second nurse said.

Raising his head to check his vitals by himself, he saw his blood pressure coming up from 85 over 62 to 104 over 78, which was a good sign; they apparently had the good diagnosis. His heart rate was also slowly coming back to a normal level. Several seconds passed before Casey gently opened his blue eyes, but he closed them almost instantly, the light of the lamp shining in his pupils giving him a headache. He growled as Ethan pushed the light source aside in order to allow Matt to open his eyes again. Blue irises met the black eyes of the two doctors, visibly confused as he didn't know what was going on.

"Hey there. Can you tell me your name?"

Groggy and too confused, he wondered why two doctors he knew well was asking him such a question. But after a couple seconds, he put the pieces together: brain damaged access. He remembered having had some of them after his brain injury a few years prior. The oxygen mask was obstructing his face and was bothering him, he felt horribly weak but he made a gigantic effort to open his mouth and make a sound.

"Matt."

He couldn't help but cough, his voice hoarse from the smoke inhalation. He frowned again after having heard his own voice. What happened? It was so confusing.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Hos… Hospital…", he said weakly.

All he wanted to was sleeping right now, too weak to remain conscious and alert.

"Okay, last question", Halstead said, seeing that Matt was about to fall back asleep. "Do you remember what happened?"

The last thing he could remember was this intense fire and his last words to the woman he loved the most in this world. But was it a dream or not? He couldn't remember well as his brain was in a huge fog.

"Fire…"

His eyes closed and he didn't open them again.

"Okay, let's get him up for the chest x-ray and the CT-scan. He's stable enough to be transported."

In the waiting room of the ER, the firefighters had gathered under the incredible eyes of dozens of other patients. They had all decided to wait here after the intense and exhausting call to support and pray for their two colleagues in a critical condition. Boden had called Trudy to explain the situation to her and she had to join them as soon as possible in the ER of Chicago MED. Being Mouch's wife, she was now listed as his next of kin. The firefighters who had been almost boiled alive had also been checked and they all had an IV with a bag of fluids to counter dehydration. If Matt and Mouch had one, it meant that everyone inside had one as well. Kelly was deeply annoyed by this, but he had no other choice. The nurses from room 2 opened the curtain and the door of the examination room, the two doctors dragging with the help of the two women the stretcher in which Matt was still inert, with an oxygen mask on his face. Everyone had seen him outside the warehouse, but seeing him getting out of the room and pushed away from her again, Gabby collapsed into tears: the last words of her husband echoing in her head. As Halstead heard the tears of the young woman, he left Dr. Choi taking Matt up to the radiology to talk to the group of firefighters gathered in the waiting room.

"How's Casey?" Brett asked, seeing that Gabby couldn't ask by herself.

"He is still not out of the wood, far from it. We're taking him up to the radiology for a chest x-ray and a CT-scan, but he has briefly regained consciousness. He was very lucky, the smoke inhalation could have been lethal in view of the degree of exposure. He also had some burns here and there, but nothing untreatable and irreversible. He was also severely dehydrated and his blood sugar was quite low, which could have led to serious neurological damage, but everything is under control now. As I said, he was very lucky."

Gabby's tears increased, more relieved than sad. She had been so afraid of losing her husband, the man of her life.

"A nurse will pick you up as soon as he is properly settled into a room in the ICU."

A few minutes earlier, Mouch had also been taken up, probably in radiology, just like Matt now. The firefighters had barely had time to see him that the nurses were rushing into the hallway for medical staff only, and the doctors didn't want to talk to them, pretexting that a next of kin was not in the room and that they only wanted to speak to one of them.

"Where is my husband!" Trudy cried after the doors of the emergency room opened, surprising everyone.

She was out of breath and ready to shed a few tears. Everyone knew the apparent coldness that she aborted all the time, but in front of the firefighters, it was another woman. She was not there as a desk sergeant, but as the wife of one of the wounded firemen. She had every right to be anxious for her husband, especially since she knew that today was to be her last day of work. She had tried to reason Randy about retiring, in vain. He felt that it was time to stop, and she had supported him in every step.

"He has been taken up to the radiology, just like Casey."

"The lieutenant was also wounded?"

An icy silence settled, Gabby still shocked by what she had just seen and heard.

"Severe smoke inhalation, couple burns, dehydration and hypoglycemia", Brett explained to Trudy.

She nodded, trying to remain as calm as possible while Boden was heading to the nurse's station where Maggie was. He wanted the doctors to explain what was going on with Mouch immediately as his wife had just arrived.

"Maggie, can you call back the doctor treating Mouch? Trudy is here."

She glanced over chief Boden's shoulder and saw Trudy wandering in front of the group of firefighters.

"I page him, but I don't think he will come right now, as Mouch has been taken up to the radiology."

Minutes passed, and nobody came to give them some news from the two missing pieces of the tied group. The silence was heavy, legs were trembling like Hell in every direction on the seats that some had taken, others were walking and pacing around the time a doctor would come to them to explain the situation to them. Finally, after thirty long minutes of anxiety, two doctors appeared in the hallway and approached the waiting room calmly, one of them being Dr. Halstead. The latter let the other physician talk about Mouch's condition.

"How is Randall? How's my husband?" Trudy managed to say, worried about the doctor's expression.

"Mouch came up with a severe dehydration and severe hypoglycemia, which led to a syncope. The intensity of the fire triggered this, plus the fact that he had nothing on his stomach led to this faint. We are giving him fluids and nutrients intravenously, his heart rate and blood pressure are gradually coming down, which is a really good thing. He hasn't regained consciousness though", the doctor explained mainly to Trudy, but also to the other firefighters.

"When I can see him?"

"He's getting settled into a room in the ICU, where he would stay for a day or so. I bring you to him."

She turned to her husband's second family, relieved by what she had just heard from the doctor's mouth. She had been concentrating on one thing, and the fact that she felt calm helped her to finally see the reality of the situation: the firefighters were all exhausted, dark circles could be seen below their eyes, most of their faces were covered with dust and soot from the fire they had just fought and had injured Matt and Mouch, had killed three employees and could have done more damage if the fire had not been controlled this soon. Thanking the firefighters without a word, she then followed the doctor down the hallway to take her to her husband's room, leaving Dr. Halstead alone with the rest of firehouse 51.

"How is Matt?" Gabby had the strength to ask.

"He regained consciousness again while going the chest x-ray and we could talk during the CT-scan. There is no neurological damage, but his airways are slightly swollen and burnt from the fire. We are giving him bronchodilator and a moderate painkiller to ease the pain from the burn, which had been treated", Will explained, relieving all the stress accumulated by the firefighters. "He's settled into a room as well, next to Randy's", he simply added. "If you want to sit next to him when he will come back to the land of the living…"

While all the firefighters would pray for Mouch and Casey with no hesitation, Gabby followed the physician to the room where her husband was resting. As he sustained major smoke inhalation, they had been forced to take him up to the intensive care unit, at least the time for him to be completely out of the wood, which would take twenty-four to forty-eight hours. As they stopped in front of a door, the doctor turned towards Gabby.

"I have to warn you; he is under painkillers and bronchodilator, which is why he will be groggy for a while", he explained with a low voice, because the ICU had to remain quiet.

Gabby slightly nodded, aware about all this stuff. She'd been there a little while ago when her previously boyfriend and now husband had his traumatic brain injury. Back to that day, she remembered how she had been so scared. Slowly, the doctor opened the door and Gabby entered, her legs ready to give way as she heard the sound of the heart monitor beeping at a steady but slow pace. She couldn't hold back the tears; she started crying silently while sitting at Matt's bedside. His face still had a tinge of red; some first-degree burns, his legs and arms had first and superficial second degree burns as well. Her lips and hands were trembling as she watched Matt's chest slowly rise and fall at a steady rhythm, thanks to the supplemental amount of oxygen given through the oxygen mask with the bronchodilator. She had never been so scared in her entire life. Checking his monitor to make sure that he was indeed okay, as the doctors told her, she grabbed his hand, caressing over his wedding ring peacefully. Inwardly, she was so proud to have him as her husband, even though sometimes he could be stupid enough to remove his mask and inhale a significant amount of smoke, ash and dust just to tell her how he was in love with her. The painkillers still rushing through his bloodstream should soon wear off and he would wake up, maybe with a blurry vision as smoke could be a pain in the ass without an appropriate equipment. The doctor was optimistic about his recovery as besides the smoke inhalation, he only had couple burns, bumps and bruises. Seconds, minutes passed, and he finally began to stir. She straightened up in her chair, finally allowing herself to take the hand of her husband to signal her presence beside him. With her other hand, she wiped away the tears still running down her cheeks and watched Matt slowly blinking. And finally, his piercing blue eyes met her gaze. He didn't know if it was a dream, an illusion or the reality, and even if his vision was a real fog, he still could smell a very specific fragrance despite his injured nostrils.

"Gab...", he croaked, his voice too hoarse from the smoke inhalation.

He started coughing, frowning a little bit as his throat felt like sandpaper. Gabby let go of his hand, getting up without any noise to catch a glass filled with water and a straw, sitting down again.

"Just a few sips, babe", she told him lovely but with a trembling voice.

His eyes closed and still frowning, he weakly nodded. Carefully, she slid the oxygen mask with one hand, and with the other hand, she brought the edges of the glass to his lips split by the heat. He caught the straw and drank thankfully a few sips, careful not to drink too much water in once. Hurriedly, Dawson pushed back the oxygen mask in place, Matt still having his eyes shut the whole time. He opened his mouth, seeking the fresh amount of air through his airways and releasing his lungs as he tried to say a word again.

"Gabby?"

"Shhhh...", Gabby whispered as she took her husband's left hand again.

"Not dead?" he asked almost inaudibly.

It was too much to bear for Gabby. As she had been so scared of losing him, she could no longer restrain herself from saying what she had on her heart. She pinched him on his left arm, mad.

"You are such an idiot, Matthew Casey!" she started, using his full name to scold him. "Removing your mask, really!"

As her words entering his brain, he apologized, trying to justify what he did.

"Sorry... Had to tell you...", he began, removing his mask weakly.

"Don't you dare removing this one too!" she screamed while placing the mask back on his face. "I was so damn scared! You can't do this to me, Matt! You'd argued with me when I was a candidate about the risk of giving up our mask, but you did it anyway! I can't live without you, you know! What I would have done without you...", she sobbed angrily, shedding a few tears again.

Realizing what he did to her, thinking back to that call when they had to take care of a shopper stoke by a civilian drone, when he yelled at her because she gave up her mask to give it to a victim because she got trapped inside, he knew that what he did wasn't a good example. He shouldn't have done that, but he really had thought of dying in here, he really had thought it would be his last words and he had wanted to give them to her. He wanted to be forgiven for that.

"Come here", he said, groggy.

She stood up, laying down on Matt's left side while paying attention to the IV stuck in his arm. She still had tears on her face, gently wiped away by her husband.

"I'm fine now, just banged up."

"You nearly died, you idiot! I thought you were going to die!" she cried even more.

Quickly, Matt put his wife's head in the crook of his neck as she continued to cry. All the stress of the moment she'd just gone was drained out of her body, and Matt was taking the blame upon himself to make her feel better, even if a new dose of painkiller had just been pushed through his veins; he knew that very soon, he would go back to sleep.

"I love you... Not going anywhere...", he said weakly, his eyes gradually closing.

Gabby remember; this sentence... Matt said it numerous time to say to her that he would never give up on her, that he would love her no matter what. It was a sentence that comforted her every single time. She smiled as he fell asleep, wiping her tears again and allowing herself to sleep in the arms of the one she loved. She found his gesture stupid but knowing that his last words would have been for her comforted her. He was an idiot, but her idiot. Her idiot husband whom she loved to madness.


End file.
